Increased Reports of Domestic Violence Filed with DVU 

While the number of reported domestic and gender-based violence cases has risen at the Domestic Violence Unit and the Women’s Commission, this could be a sign that victims are finally heeding the advice to report these incidents. Today, the Chair of the National Women’s Commission suggested that the increase in reports might mean that victims and their families are now seeking help and involving the authorities, rather than suffering in silence.

Thea Garcia-Ramirez, Chair, National Women’s Commission

“We know that only about 40 percent of cases were being reported. So that means that the vast majority of cases of violence were not even reported. The uptick in cases being reported can actually mean that our job and our work is actually getting out there. It’s really functioning because we are telling women, report, even if you choose then not to take it to court, not to have press charges, report it.”